UPDATE 4-Maersk sees $1 bln FY loss on poor freight rates

* Jan-Sept net loss 3.86 bln DKK, below 3.33 bln loss fcast

* Maersk says expects full-year loss of about $1 bln

* Sees Q4 freight rates higher than Q3, volumes lower

* Maersk B shares down 4.3 pct, underperforming sector

(Adds details, quotes, updates share price)

By John Acher and Karin Jensen

COPENHAGEN, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Danish shipping and oil group A.P. Moller-Maersk (MAERSKb.CO) reported a deeper-than-forecast net loss for the first nine months of the year, hit by a global slump in freight, and said it would lose $1 billion in 2009.

The full-year 2009 outlook, unchanged from three months ago, points Maersk -- the world's biggest container shipping line -- towards its first year loss on record as container freight rates and volumes have plunged in the global downturn.

"The main problem is still rates," Chief Executive Nils Smedegaard Andersen said in a conference call, noting that third-quarter container rates were down 32 percent from a year earlier while volumes were only 3 percent lower in the quarter.

In a related sign of market weakness, Hamburg port operator HHLA (HHFGn.DE) said on Thursday it expected a 30 percent drop in 2009 container turnover volume. [ID:nLC119830] [ID:nLC405632]

Container shipping rates in the fourth quarter are seen slightly above the third-quarter level, but volumes are expected to be somewhat lower due to seasonal fluctuations, said Maersk.

The trillion-dollar shipping industry carries around 90 percent of the world's traded goods by volume, and many analysts look to seaborne activity for signs of economic recovery. The global economic crisis has prompted shipping lines to cut freight rates and capacity. [ID:nLS245625] [ID:nLL685683]

World Trade Organisation Director-General Pascal Lamy said on Wednesday Asian economies may be leading a new expansion in world trade. [ID:nSP487891] [ID:nL9453301] [ID:nLJ96630]

"Rates are coming up, rates are edging back up," Andersen said, "but they are still below the entry level of 2009 and are not rising faster than bunker (fuel) so if we take the bunker factor out, rates are still below the first half of 2009."

Singapore's Neptune Orient Lines (NEPS.SI), the No. 5 container shipper, said on Nov. 9 container revenue fell 29 percent year-on-year in the four weeks to mid-October. [ID:nSIN436618] [ID:nSGC003352]